Lara Croft ran a comb through her long, brown hair. She glanced in the mirror and she began to braid the long strands in its normal style. It was the sixteenth of December. Hillary and Bryce were planning to leave the next day to go home for the holidays. Lara finished braiding her hair, tossing the braid behind her and smoothing out a wrinkle on her black tank top.
She was going to be alone in the house for over a month. Before that fact usually didn't bothered her. She was used to being alone, most times, she loved it. But never on holidays. She always missed her parents, or any of the close friends she had had when she was younger. But now they were all married with children and large households to look after. Lara had stopped fitting in with them a long time ago. Now she was left alone in her mansion.
Bryce and Hillary had both offered to have her spend Christmas with them and their families, but Lara had declined both offers. She loved them both, but she didn't fit in with their families. Lara starred at her reflection. This was the life she had chosen, now she had to live with it.
Lara walked away from the mirror and walked over to her bed. She had Bryce's and Hillary's Christmas presents wrapped and ready to give to them. They always exchanged presents before they went their separate ways for Christmas. Lara sighed before she picked up the gifts and left her room.
***
"Hey Lara." Bryce greeted, looking up from a mechanical toy he was tinkering with. He was sitting in the living, on the floor. He had locked up his area of the house since he was leaving the next day. Hillary was watching him, half out of amusement, and half out of boredom. He had made sure Lara would have no problems while she was alone in the house.
"Evening, Bryce." Lara said, handing him his present. "Here you go. Merry Christmas." She said with a warm, but incredibly fake smile.
Lara handed the other gift to Hillary, but didn't bother to smile. Hillary knew her too well, and would see right through it.
"Thank you, Lara." Hillary said, accepting the gift.
Bryce had already ripped though the wrapping paper and was opening the small box that the colorful paper had covered. He slid the lid off of the box and took a stack of papers from it. His eyes skimmed the first page before they lit up with excitement.
"Lara! These are the plans for the new M-83B! I don't believe this!" Bryce said, paging through the papers.
"Lara? The M-83B? That new weapon the government is working on?" Hillary asked. "Where did you get the designs for it?"
"I would tell you, Hillary, but then I'd have to kill you." Lara winked at him.
"This is great, Lara. I can't wait to start building it!" Bryce said, happily. "Oh," Bryce took a small remote from the pocket of his jeans. He aimed the remote in the direction of the door to Bryce's work area. Simon walked out with his mechanical grace, scanning the area and recognizing Bryce.
"This is your present, Lara." Bryce said. "I reprogrammed Simon like you wanted me to. Now it won't stop before it takes your head off." Lara smiled at him, even though she doubted that. Bryce treated her like a little sister at times and never made the simulations too dangerous for fear of seriously hurting her. "But don't use live fire this time, or he'll be broken until after the holidays."
"Deal." Lara smiled. After all, it was Christmas. "Now go ahead and open yours, Hillary."
Hillary neatly took the wrapping paper off of the box, folding it into a neat square then took the lid off of his box. He smiled when he saw what was inside.
"What is it?" Bryce asked.
"Victoria Norwood." Hillary said, taking the CD out of the box. "The very first album she ever recorded, there were only two hundred copies of this made. Thank you, Lara." He picked up a large box that was sitting next to him, and handed it to Lara.
Lara took the large red ribbon off the white box then opened it. She smiled with amusement, then, setting the box on the coffee table she took out a long black dress from the box. The dress was form fitting, with a slit running up the left side to the hip. The dress only had one strap, intended to leave one shoulder bare.
"Now, where am I going to wear this to?" Lara asked Hillary.
"Well, I heard that Mr. West is going to be in England for the holidays."
Lara's smile faded. She put the dress back into the box, sliding the lid back on. Bryce glared at Hillary.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. All three looked up. Hillary was the first to get up, but Lara stopped him.
"I'll get it." She said, before walking over to the door and opening it. A UPS man was standing outside.
"Lady Croft?" He asked.
"Yes."
He gave her a clipboard where she signed her name. He then handed her a small box.
"Happy Holidays." The man said before leaving.
Lara closed the door, transfixed by the return address. Alex West. Why in the world would he be sending her a box?
Confused, Lara walked back into the living room.
Bryce glanced at the package then asked; "Who's it from, Lara?"
"Mr. West." Lara said, gritting her teeth at the name. She set the box on the coffee table next to Hillary's present, then, taking a knife from her boot she cut the duck tape that held the box together. There was a letter attached to one of the sides of the box, but Lara saw the contents and forgot that it was there.
"Mew." Said the small kitten that was nestled in the box. Lara lost her balance and fell back onto the floor.
"What is it?" Bryce asked, peering into the box.
"A kitten." Lara murmured. Lara sat up and took the small animal from the box. She set it on the table. But the kitten was too weak to stand on it's own and sank onto the glass surface.
"That poor thing." Hillary said. "It must be in horrible condition after that trip. Mr. West should have known better then mailing a live animal." Hillary shook his head. "I'll fetch it some warm milk."
"Lara, there's a note." Bryce said.
Lara ripped the letter from the side of the box, very interested to hear Alex's explanation for this. She unfolded it and began to read out loud. "Lara. Now that you're over thirty, single and live alone I thought it was time you had a cat. Love, Alex."
Hillary set a small saucer in front of the kitten. He glanced at Lara. He had heard what the letter had said. Bryce glanced at him, then back at Lara. Lara reread the letter several times, in disbelief that even Alex West would be so cruel. But the words on the paper didn't change as she read it over and over again.
"Mew?" The kitten sniffed the warm milk Hillary had given it before it began to lap it up. Lara dropped the letter and looked at the little kitten.
"Lara?" Bryce asked softly. "Are you alright?"
"Yes. Yes, I'm fine." Lara said. She studied the tiny animal. The kitten was a calico, speckled with red, orange and black spots on it's short hair.
"What should we name the kitten?" She asked, looking at Bryce and Hillary.
***
Lara set Donnica, her kitten, on her large bed and she began to change into her nightclothes. The kitten had recovered from it's journey and was purring, happily nestling in Lara's bedspread.
Although the kitten was happy, Lara, on the other hand was quite upset.
Just who in the bloody hell does Alex think he is?! Lara thought. He's also over thirty, single, and lives alone, but I'm not rushing to get him a cat. The utter gall of the man! I should pay him back by making sure he never reproduces. Lara stopped herself. Why am I getting so upset? Lara sat down on her bed. Alex always had this effect on her. Lara laid back on her bed, remembering that one night in America.
She and Alex had recovered some artifacts for a museum and were celebrating at their hotel over champagne and dinner. Both had been drinking too much. Lara had gone to bed before the clock had struck one in the morning. Alex, stayed up a little longer. This had been his first real accomplishment as an archeologist and he was rightfully proud of the success. However, by the time he had decided to go to bed he was so drunk that he had walked into Lara's room, thinking it was his own and crawling into bed with her. Lara had been fast asleep by that time.
When Lara awoke she was laying in Alex's arms. She had panicked at first, thinking that she had slept with him. But then she remembered the night and relaxed. It wasn't that she wasn't attracted to Alex. Because she certainly was. Lara was very careful whom she became intimate with. Although she did like Alex, she knew a relationship between them would never work. They both loved tomb raiding, but that was where their similarities ended. Alex's first, and as Lara thought, only love was money. She knew he would soon become bored with her and move on. She didn't see the point in bothering with a relationship with him.
That was why Lara had gotten out of bed and went into his room to sleep. She had a slight hang over from the champagne, but was still awake and moving around before Alex had gotten out of bed. He didn't remember anything of the pervious night and Lara didn't tell him what happened.
Lara bit her lower lip. If he knew she had feelings for him he might have never stolen her prayer wheel and run off with it. They had had a fight before he had taken it. He had asked her out for a formal date and Lara had declined. Alex West, who was used to getting what he wanted when he wanted it, had been a little upset by her rejection and had asked her in a tone Lara didn't favor why she wouldn't go out with him. Lara didn't tell him the truth. She told him that she was involved with someone else. That, however, had proved to be the wrong thing to do. Alex was furious and clearly jealous. Lara, in her calm way, had refused to tell him the other man's name, which only made Alex angrier. Lara frowned when she remembered the fight. In the end Alex had said that she had been flirting with him for the past three weeks and called her a slut. Lara had punched him, breaking his nose, then stormed out of the room. When she returned Alex was gone and so was her prayer wheel.
Lara crawled under the covers and turned off the small lamp on her nightstand. There wasn't any point in getting upset over Alex West. He was an uncouth swine, a horrible excuse for a man and the only woman who would ever enjoy his company would have to be paid. Satisfied with her deduction, Lara went to sleep.
***
"Mew?" Donnica hopped onto the kitchen counter, curious to see what Lara was doing. Lara sighed and went to the refrigerator to get some milk for Donnica. The kitten was back to her original strength and was running around the Croft mansion chasing after balls of fluff and some of Bryce's small mechanical toys that Lara had let her play with. Bryce and Hillary had been gone for two days. In that time Lara had sparred with Simon, using blanks, trained on her new assault course, and even started looking into adventures for the next year.
Lara was planning on taking the kitten to the pound but she had gotten rather attached to the little kitten and decided to keep her. Lara poured Donnica a small saucer of milk. Donnica didn't wait until Lara was finished pouring the milk before she started drinking. Lara smiled at her then returned the cartoon of milk to the refrigerator. Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
Donnica looked up at the noise, then went back to eating. Lara walked over to the security room and glanced at one of the monitors. She didn't believe who she saw standing outside. It was none other then Alex West.
Not this time, mate. Lara thought. She walked back to the kitchen. She was not about to let Alex into the house. Not after the kitten. Lara opened the backdoor in the kitchen and walked out to her assault course. One way to get her mind off anything was to run her assault course.
***
Alex rang the doorbell again. "Lara?" He called though the door. He was greeted by silence. Damn it! He thought. He knew she was home. She still must be angry about the kitten. Alex glanced around, then saw the garden door leading to the assault course.
He walked through the open door onto the course. He glanced at the flowers he was holding. They were for Lara, but they seemed pretty useless now. He continued walking the assault course until he spotted Lara. She was climbing up to a set of boxes.
"Lara?" Alex asked.
Lara almost lost her concentration when she heard Alex's voice. She had expected him to go away, but she climbed to the top of the box and sat down. Looking at Alex.
"Hi Lara." He said.
"You do realize that you're trespassing on private property, don't you?" Lara asked, taking out one of her guns and cocking it.
"Whoa, Lara, I come in peace. Put the artillery away." Alex said, putting his hands up in surrender.
Lara glanced at the flowers he was holding, then back at him.
"Uh, these are for you. If you come down here, I'll give them to you." Alex said, blushing.
"No, thank you." Lara said. She stood up and began to continue running the assault course.
"Lara!" Alex called. "I want to talk to you." He said as Lara leapt to the next set of boxes. Lara ignored him and began to monkey swing across a large gap. Alex followed her, still holding the flowers.
"Come on, Lara. Don't be like this, I'm sorry about the kitten, okay?"
"Mr. West, I suggest you leave before you start to annoy me." Lara said. She leapt to another set of boxes.
"Damn it, Lara." Alex set the flowers down and began to climb the boxes after her. However, he wasn't wearing the right shoes for the climb and lost his footing. Alex swore as he fell off of the boxes. He landed on his backside in the sand. Feeling sorry for him, Lara hopped off of the boxes and offered him her hand. Alex took it as she pulled him up.
Once Alex was on his feet, he moved closer to her. Breathing in her scent. It seemed the moment was frozen in time. Lara remembered night she spent in his arms, feeling his body next to hers. Alex looked her over. Her lovely features, her clear and calm eyes, her lips that begged him to kiss her. He remembered what it was like to be close to her. More accurately, he imagined what it would be like to be close to her, holding her tightly, the feel of her hair against his shoulder.
"Get off my property, Alex." Lara said.
"I'm trying to apologize to you, Lara. Would you give me a chance?" Alex asked.
"Go ahead then." Lara said.
"Do you think we could do this inside? It's a little cold out here."
"If you think I'm inviting you into my home you are gravely mistaken, Mr. West."
"Don't be a bitch, Lara."
"And you would know about being a bitch, now wouldn't you, Alex?"
Alex was about to say something when he stopped himself, closing his eyes and trying to think of something to tell her. "Alright. I guess I deserved that." Alex said.
"Yes, you did." Lara said. "Now, if you don't mind, I was running my assault course."
"Yes, I do mind, Lara. I want to talk to you."
"About what?"
"I don't know. About. . . anything. . . or. . . ." Alex trailed off.
"I don't have the desire, or the time, Mr. West. Now why don't you go home for the holidays? Hmmm?" Lara began to walk away.
"I don't have a home to go to." Alex said. Although his voice was soft, Lara heard him clearly. She turned around, looking at him. An obvious look of pain was etched in his face.
"Don't." Lara said. "Don't even try it." She narrowed her eyes into two deadly slits.
"Try what?" Alex asked.
"Don't even try to gain my sympathy by going there Alex, I'm not in the mood."
"What makes you think I'm trying to gain your sympathy? I was telling the truth."
"Alex," Lara began flatly, "you have a large family with a vast number relatives. Or have you forgotten about them?"
"They asked me not to come this Christmas." Alex said, not able to meet Lara's gaze.
"Why not?"
"Look, it's kind of personal and-"
"Why not?" Lara repeated.
"They found out about the illuminati. My dad didn't want a criminal conspirator to be around his family."